Nursing (Mental Health) BSc (Hons)

University of Derby

At a time when mental health problems affect one in four of the population, there is an urgent need for more nurses with specialist skills. Our BSc (Hons) Nursing (Mental Health) prepares you to support client groups with acute, diverse and long-term conditions.

This course offers substantial practical experience to ensure you meet exacting professional standards. If you want to support people suffering from depression, anxiety, dementia and many other conditions, this course is the ideal pathway. You will focus on people’s strengths and resources, helping them cope with problems and maximising their potential. You can opt to embark on this course at our Derby or Chesterfield Campus.

This course is built around the ethos that everyone has a right to evidence-based care, whatever their background and circumstances. It equips you to excel as a confident, versatile and capable mental health nurse. At every stage of the course, you will draw on our long-established links with health and social care employers. You will benefit from outstanding facilities, including our clinical skills suite and our state-of-the-art immersive suite. You will learn from a highly experienced, enthusiastic and research-active team who provide full support to help you achieve your ambitions. This programme is a holistic learning experience, enabling students to become emotionally resilient and transformational Registered Nurses of the future. This is a full-time 3 -year course and students will complete a range of modules to develop the fundamental knowledge and skills for safe effective nursing practice where the interests of people using or needing nursing services are put first.

A compulsory part of the course is practice learning which equates to 50% of the overall programme in line with the NMC standards (NMC, 2018). Students must complete at least 2300 hours of practice learning to support the application of theory to practice. Practice learning is achieved through a variety of placement experiences to enable you to gain essential practical experience by participating in 24-hour care. Throughout, you'll benefit from the support of Practice Assessors and Practice Supervisors who will help you get as much out of the experience as possible.

Accredited by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, this course enables you to register and practise as a mental health nurse as soon as you graduate.

On successful completion of this degree, you’ll be eligible to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and go into practice as a qualified mental health nurse, as long as you meet the NMC’s requirements. With a national shortage of nurses nationwide, you will discover a wide range of career opportunities. Many of our students have secured jobs before completing their studies and are increasingly offered positions in the early stages of their third year of training. Our graduates go into a wide range of health and social care settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, community roles, the voluntary sector, prisons and the armed services, to name but a few. Many take up roles in settings where they gained experience on placement.